Punch Me Harder
by PlaySetQ
Summary: One of the very first things Uchiha Sasuke ever understands is that for every witch or wizard there was, by some divine miracle, another who fits them perfectly. The second thing that Sasuke understands is that some witches and wizards were lucky and some weren't. (Soulmate identifying marks AU). (Discontinued! Sorry).
1. Pureblood Boy

**Punch Me Harder**

 **PlaySetQ**

 **Author's Note** : I took full liberty of my creativity and threw it at Harry Potter, soul mate AUs and SasuNaruSasu: the result was this. I changed a lot of what's cannon (you'll see). This is a fic where the Naruto characters are in HP setting (so no HP characters in here, sorry). It's a Naruto and HP AU/fusion more than it is a crossover.

 **Warnings:**

 **:-: A warning for Sasuke's dysfunctional family, even if it's basically canon. And bullying, slurs and blood discrimination, P.O.V switching and slow to start (slow burn?).**

 **:-: The Japanese Wizarding School is actually a thing. Google it – I got my information primarily from Pottermore and rest I made up.**

 **:-: The 'last name' thing is a magical Japanese cultural thing I made up, it was necessary for the plot.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Pureblood Boy**

One of the very first things Uchiha Sasuke ever understands is that for every witch or wizard there was, by some divine miracle, another who fits them perfectly. The second thing that Sasuke understands is that some witches and wizards were lucky (namely purebloods) and some weren't.

Sasuke is told only to address them as 'muggleborns' in public, as times were changing; 'mudbloods' and 'unfortunates' were only words that were allowed to be used comfortably by his father behind their family manor's ancient antique doors.

"Slurs," Itachi tells him later after he's heard the words for the very first time. It's night and quiet and way past Sasuke's bed time. His beloved and envied older brother sits at the end of his four-poster bed, absently rubbing his feet through the thick, fluffy comforter. "Is what mudbloods and unfortunates are called. They're mean words meant to degrade and hurt other people. You shouldn't ever use them Sasuke, not just because their impolite – but because you could really hurt someone's feelings."

"But father says them." Sasuke brings up, a little rebelliously and more than a little curiously.

The Uchiha was old money and old tradition but never old news. Their family was famous and large – Sasuke can't count the number of first cousins he has on two hands, let alone all of the Uchiha clan. (Although he does know all of them. As an heir of the head family it's expected, even if he's the second.) They all live in a community of large, expensive and expansive homes on the outskirts of the Japanese magical community. Despite how many of them there are, there's only one Lord and Lady – Sasuke's parents.

Without fault, all Uchiha listen to their Lord and Lady.

Itachi going against his father words no matter how subliminal - disapproving of something his father approves of - in such a way is something Sasuke's never seen before. Going against his father simply wasn't done. At least not by other Uchiha.

"Father also curses a lot," Itachi points out, raising his eyebrow. "Are you going to start cursing because father does?"

The little boy pales and shakes his head no, pouting just a bit and absently rubbing the back of his hand where his father had hexed with a very light stinging jinx the last time he'd caught Sasuke saying something considerably rude. Cursing, even if his father did it, would no doubt land him in more trouble than just one lightly swelled hand and a week without his toy wand.

Itachi slides himself up to the top of the bed and settles himself against the two soft, firm pillows that Sasuke wasn't using. Itachi's hair was tied back and noticeably still neat and tidy and his pajamas didn't look to have a wrinkle to them. Sasuke sticks out his lower lip again and runs a tiny hand through his own nest of hair. He tries to straighten out his pajama shirt, wishing, not for the first time, that he could be a little more like his brother.

Itachi's eyes soften and gestures for Sasuke to come closer. The boy beams and eagerly cuddles up to Itachi's side, insecurities immediately forgotten. Itachi wraps one arm around his young brother, huddling him close.

"Why?" Sasuke asks and digs his little chin into Itachi side, as if forcing him to pay attention.

"Why what?" Itachi rebuttals and tries to shuffle Sauske closer.

Sasuke huffs out in frustration. His eyebrows crinkle in a way that's supposed to appear angry but ends up only making him look cute. The flash of irritation only lasts for a few seconds and after the little episode ends, Sasuke flushes at his own impatience. A little ashamed when Itachi raises an eyebrow at him yet again and Sasuke can spot the curl of amusement at the end of his brother's lips.

"Why does father call them those names if they're mean?" He clarifies, tilting his head in confusion.

"Sasuke…" Itachi hesitates briefly and his lips twitch downward for only a moment. Sasuke for all his tutoring and training, is still a child and doesn't catch it. "Muggleborns are often called mudblood because they have two muggle parents instead of magical ones. A muggleborn is the first wizard or witch in that family. Wizards and witches like father think that their blood isn't magical enough to be taught, that's it dirty. Which is wrong – the level of magical ability doesn't aspire from genes."

"And unfortunates?" Sasuke's wide innocent eyes stare up at Itachi like a small puppy. A small, sleepy, puppy as his eyelids keep drooping and flittering close without permission.

Itachi chuckles and sweeps his hand across Sasuke's bangs. "Well, that's a little harder to explain." He shuffles off the side of the bed and Sasuke hastily reaches forward with his little hand and catches Itachi's pale wrist.

"Are you going?" Sasuke reluctantly asks and he can't keep the anguish out of his voice. It's not rare for Itachi to pay attention to him, but it's rare that they share intimate moments like these. "Can't you stay?"

Itachi smiles softly at his brother, he impulsively motions Sasuke closer. The little boy ends up sitting on his knees by the edge of his bed, fidgeting slightly. Itachi gently pokes at his brother's forehead, observing amused as a thin line of red dusts his little brother's cheekbones.

"Maybe later." Itachi promises and straightens out the non-existing wrinkles on his nightshirt. "But, I can tuck you back in."

Sasuke scrambles back to the middle of his bed and throws himself under the covers. He lays stiff as a board as Itachi straightens out the comforter and sheets. With a gentle but precise hand, Itachi expertly pulls the covers over Sasuke's small body tucking the fancy, very fine-made sheets and comforter in around him.

Sasuke squirms just a little, burning out the rest of whatever restlessness had been left from the day before settling down. With a final touch, Itachi restores the firm pillows he'd been leaning on to their regular state.

"Good night," Itachi wishes from the doorway, his voice not-quite a whisper but not exactly anything louder.

"Good night." Sasuke returns just as softly. Watching Itachi quietly leave his bedroom, a warm feeling swells in his chest. Sasuke grins into his pillow and traces the centre of his forehead with a finger.

-Q- Four Years Later -Q-

The sun beams into his window like an over-excited child on Yule. Sasuke emits a loud, over-dramatic groan into his pillow and tries to bury his face further in. However, all that gets him is something too close to self-suffocation to be comfortable. Despairingly, the whole process ends up waking him up instead of sending him back into the dream world.

Stubborn and unwilling to forfeit the fight (because logically, the eight-year-old knows you can't really fight the sun, but that still wasn't going to stop him from trying). Sasuke pulls the covers over his head instead and snuggles back in. His attempt at sleeping in longer ends a minute later when Milly knocks on his door.

"Young Master?" Milly's hesitant squeaky voice rings in Sasuke's ears. "The Lord and Lady require your presence in the dinning room."

"Okay, Milly." Sasuke replies, slowly getting out of bed. He pauses to rub at his right eye, getting rid of the tiny ball of crust that's gathered in the corner. He clumsily walks over to the stand at the end of his bed and grabs his school robes folded neatly and compressed there.

"May I enter?" The house elf inquires, nothing-less than polite and pristine as trained by the Uchiha head house elf. Milly was a house elf abandoned when her European owners lost their political power in a court matter against the Uchiha. Sasuke had begged to the keep the thing after seeing it and reluctantly his father was talked into it by Itachi.

After that, Milly was trained in housekeeping and was given a bit of an education as all house elves in Japan were expected to have. If a guest was served by something as dirty and uneducated as Milly was before she was bonded to the Uchiha, it was as good as an insult. In other words, how Milly was before wasn't acceptable and new clothes, a bit of an education and manners were installed.

Sasuke hastily changes his underwear and chucks his dirty night clothes into the hamper. He struggles into the cream, cotton, high collared undershirt and white pants. Finally, he slips on his robes calling out a hasty, "Yes!"

Milly goes straight to work, making her young master's bed and lightly dusting the items of furniture.

"Young master looks rather dashing in his school robes." Milly comments excitedly, swishing her hands to control the seven fluffy dusters swishing around the room.

The boy grunts in reply, standing in front of a tall, dark oak framed mirror. His eyes are locked on his hair and there's a firm grip on his hair brush. He's trying to style his hair in one way or another but all it does is stick straight up.

"The elf's right, Sauce." The enchanted mirror adds in and Sasuke snorts disapprovingly at the English nickname. He sends an annoyed glare at the thing, "It's Sasuke." He firmly corrects, "It's Japanese, I'm Japanese, and you're supposed to be Japanese."

The mirror sulks and Sasuke can tell it's upset. "Well, I was going to tell you to leave your hair as it is and that you looked great but," the mirror snootily says, "that was before you made fun of me."

"The robes are pink," Sasuke flatly counters, glowering slightly. He self consciously tugs at the end of the loose cuffs.

"It's your colour." The mirror wittily responds. Sasuke scowls. "And," The mirror states nonchalantly, "I would suggest wearing that red tie your mother brought for you. You wouldn't want to end up flashing your soulmate mark to anyone on your first day."

Sasuke gently touches the side of his neck, distracted for only a moment before nodding and doing just that.

"You look soooo adorable!" The mirror gushes and Sasuke was sure if the mirror was human it'd be attempting to pinch his cheeks. He holds back a shiver that attempts to jump down his spine, absently rubbing his cheek with the palm of his hand. Grandma Chouko always leaves a strong impression and Sasuke's cheeks red with finger prints and nail indents every time she comes to visit.

"I look like a valentine gone wrong." He deadpans, fiddling with the tie to make sure it's nice and tight.

Soulmate identifying marks are perhaps the only thing in existence that's immune to magic. There's no covering them; not even a metamorphmagus transformation or through polyjuice. There's always make up but it's isn't fool proof. Just covering the mark isn't optimum either, but it's a lot less work. Ironically, soulmate marks are like finger prints you can't hide (although they're supposed to be private). Each unique to its owner; a mark, a claim, of an unknown other.

"You look absolutely radiant darling." The mirror teases with a thick English accent.

"Bite me." Sasuke snaps, dramatically exiting his bedroom, his pale pink robes flare with the momentum of the turn. The sliding door slams shut, leaving a bemused mirror and a cheeky house elf behind.

"Ooooh," The mirror sing-songs. "He's going through puberty already?"

The house elf snickers, finishing the dusting and moving on to the dirty laundry.

Breakfast at the Uchiha manor was a meal where without fail every single member of the family showed up. His father sitting at the head of the twelve seated table and his mother to his right, his brother sitting next to his father and Sasuke, the last to appear, seats himself next to his brother.

His father gives him a stern disapproving look for a few seconds, he doesn't spare the time to say anything to reprimand him so Sasuke assumes he's in the clear. ("Breakfast is at seven o'clock, Sasuke. Breakfast is served at seven o'clock, I expect you be in that seat and eating by no later than seven o'clock." And that was the first and last time Sasuke was ever late to breakfast.)

Out of the counter of his eye, Sasuke spots the fancy analog clock that his mother had put up for decoration, although it does work. He lets himself relax, six fifty-seven was cutting it close but it wasn't late.

Itachi offers him a silent smile, nudging him gently with his shoulder – it really isn't a secret that Sasuke's not a morning person and therefore his grouchiness is increased by nearly ten times when he has to deal with people before nine o'clock. But his family is the exception even if he himself doesn't talk much.

His family is a busy one; his father, an important political figure and the head of the Aurour unit in Japan's Ministry of Magic. His mother, although not having a "real" job, is also kept busy with Uchiha clan matters and Itachi, who if isn't in school, is studying. Most of the time Sasuke really only sees his mother at lunch and dinner, father and Itachi both hole themselves up in their rooms or simply forget the time.

Breakfast is the only real family time Sasuke gets.

Without missing a beat when the clock strikes six fifty-nine, the house elves bring out the dishes. Promptly at seven o'clock the dishes are on the table and breakfast is served. The delicious smells of healthy, top-quality, warm food make Sasuke's tummy rubble.

The bowls of food situated in front of Sasuke are all his favourites. There's warm rice and miso soup with a side of boiled fish, eggs, plain toast and slices of juicy fresh tomato.

They all says their thanks in unity and then dig in. Sasuke targets the rice first, saving the tomato for last.

"It's the first day of school today." His mother casually states. Her lengthy ink black hair is tied up in a bun, styled in the latest trend. Her dress is beautiful; a silky one that compliments her wonderfully. She idly snatches the next piece of fruit between her chop sticks and rises it to her full lips. "Are you excited?" She asks and then eats the fruit.

"Very," Itachi finishes his own bowl of fruit, moving on to the miso soup. "If everything goes as planned I think by the end of the year I'll be wearing gold." He says it causally like it's a normal thing for a twelve-year-old tell his family.

Sasuke glares down at his bowl and catches the sight of his pink robes and glares harder. The tips and cuffs of it were darken into a vibrant red and any other family would be jumping for joy.

Typically, one's robes don't change from pink to red until their first 'actual' year at Mahoutokoro (the Japanese School of Witchcraft and Wizardry) at age eleven when you board there for the first time.

Before that, students are delivered back and forth from the school for class. This means Sasuke's almost two to three years ahead of his peers – which doesn't matter because he's six months (and counting because the robes aren't fully red yet) behind his brother. Whose robes changed hue in his first six months of his first year at Mahoutokoro, when he was seven.

The robes given to students of Mahoutokoro are charmed to change colour depending on experience, students' education is planned so by the end of sixth year their robes are either black or gold. Black being the final colour; the wearer must have top marks in every subject and have a top level amount of practicing and handling magic and control. Gold is the second to last colour: a student must have good marks and a top level amount of practicing, handling and controlling magic and anyone wearing less than these colours is considered failed by the end of all seven (technically eleven) years of magical schooling.

Itachi's robes are already gold and if you squint you can make out traces of black at the edges.

"He's a genius." Sasuke sullenly thinks. How was he supposed to live up to that?

The declaration catches father attention ("Everything Itachi does catches father's attention," Sasuke thinks, rolling his eyes mentally).

"Oh?" There's a grin stretched across his face and pride in his eyes. "That's my boy." His father gives a steady nod of approval in Itachi direction and shifts his gaze towards his youngest child.

Sasuke feels the look but doesn't meet his father eyes, afraid of what he'll see (Disappointment? Shame? Something unreadable?). Predicting the path that the conversation was about to go down, his mother quickly intervenes.

"And what about you, Sasuke? Are you excited for school?" She asks, smiling genuinely.

"For the school work, yes." Sasuke responds, decidedly not mentioning all the people he's not excited to see.

"And friends?" She urges, as if she's trying to use the power of her will to make sure one of her sons is to be more than a quiet bookworm.

Sasuke shrugs his shoulders, "All the boys are alright. But the girls are weird." He doesn't elaborate and his mother doesn't push him. After he takes the last bite, the clock shows seven thirty which means breakfast is over and he's right on time.

They leave the dishes for the house elves to clean and mother bids them goodbye at the door. She pecks father on the lips before his leaves and kisses Itachi on the cheek, hugging him briefly but tightly and lets him go with a simple and quiet, "good luck." Mother wouldn't see itachi for another couple of months. His older brother smiles gratefully and she moves on to Sasuke.

He outwardly rolls his eyes, and fusses as she plants one on his forehead and pretends it isn't the thing he likes most about the mornings.

-Q-

Mahoutokoro is, perhaps the most incredible thing that Sasuke's ever seen. The school is a palace in every right and sense of the word. It's grand and gracefully, like it's a god of in itself, perched on the highest tip of a remote island.

The Japanese styled towers rise like a pearly sun, the ground floors stretch from the peak of one mountain top to the fairest one in the same clump, yet doesn't touch either of the land masses because the school is floating above it. Suspended by time and ancient magics that Sasuke couldn't even begin to imagine.

Arriving at the school after being away for break is like taking a breath of fresh air after being forced to bath in pollution. It's exhilarating and refreshing and Sasuke's not sure how he could've possibly forgotten this feeling.

The moment Sasuke's foot touches the mutton flat jade that the whole school is pieced together from, his shoulder's relax from their unconsciously strained state. Sasuke steals a glance at Itachi.

By the softening of his older brother's eyes and the tiny curve of his lips, Sasuke knows Itachi feels the same.

The Uchiha manor was built by Sasuke's ancestors at the very start of their line a billion years ago (not really a billion years ago but takes just as much time to recite how many 'great's that is). Every single generation of the main family has lived and died in those walls. It's, undoubtedly, home. The magic there is familial and comfortable and a place where every Uchiha feels welcomed and safe.

Stepping foot into a place like Mahoutokoro that's existed longer then the Uchiha manor and had not just Uchiha, but millions of billions of talented and powerful witches and wizards walk these very halls is like going outside for the very first time.

The comfortable safe feeling of the Uchiha manor doesn't compare to the magnificence that's Mahoutokoro. It doesn't compare to the tingle of magic that tickles the back of his neck, doesn't compare to rich history of brilliance that lingers or the way his chest constricts because this place, this palace is the start of everything and every one and has been for a countless number of generations.

It's not home but it's the beginning – and that's just as important.

-Q-

It's takes until the middle of the year for Sasuke's robes to fully change from pale pink to red and his teachers are ecstatic. The staff are already calling him a genius. "Just like your brother!" One would say. "The Uchiha heirs sure are next level." Another chirms in, the statement is casual and Sasuke wonders if they already had expectations of his brother before Itachi step foot into the building and he also wonders if they can see him beneath the suffocating weight of Itachi's shadow.

When Sasuke's father finds out all he calls it is an improvement. Sasuke tries to ignore the silly, heavy weight in his stomach, because really what he expecting? A show of pride or approval? – "You're not Itachi." He reminds himself after the fact, "You don't get approval."

For once, Sasuke's selfishly thankful that Itachi was born first because how much more would it hurt if father still liked Itachi better even if he was born second? The spare?

And it's conflicting, Sasuke loves his brother, loves him more than anything in the world. But he also gains father's approval without lifting a finger, for just being who he is and that's enough to stir resentment. It's complicated and Sasuke does what he's always done when he can't handle something – he ignores it until he can't anymore and then he ignores it some more.

Other than Sasuke's robes, nothing changes throughout the year. The girls still get red faced and weird when he's around them and he still really doesn't have any initiative to make friends. The other boys, although they take their studying seriously too, don't commit themselves to it like Sasuke does. They do it more because their parents tell them and less because they enjoy it like Sasuke does and they certainly don't do it to catch up to an older brother's back or catch their father's attention.

Well, that's fine. Sasuke doesn't need friends anyways.

And he tries to persuade himself he doesn't care.

-Q-

Haku is someone Sasuke never noticed. He always sits in the back and he never makes a noise and the teachers don't usually call on him unless it's for the morning roll call. He doesn't have any friends and he's perfected the art of making himself appear smaller and invisible.

Sasuke – someone who doesn't pay any attention to his classmates at all at this point; all the girls are weird, except for maybe, the Hyuuga heir who's as committed to studying as Sasuke is and doesn't turn as red as a tomato when they're in the same room but he won't approach because of their family political rivalry. And all of his male classmates who Sasuke's opinion of them drops every time they open their months – frankly there's not much worth paying attention to.

And there's no chance he's ever going to find a friend here, at least that's what he thought until the last month of school came around and Sasuke was staying after hours to get extra help on a particularly hard transfiguration question (which meant, in reality it was supposed to be impossible for anyone in their grade to answer it except maybe Hinata with a good amount of time and a lot of extra help and Sasuke, who really only needs clarification on a few things).

He'd been going to collect his quidditch practice uniform before heading home when the sound of badly muffled crying pulls his attention to the changing rooms across from the lockers where personal training brooms and uniforms are kept.

The occurrence is odd because it's already seven o'clock, two hours past home time. It could be an older student but this was a "Pinkies" (a nick-name for the day students) locker room. Curious and a little concern, though he wouldn't in a thousand year admit it, he carefully approaches the door to the changing room and knocks gently.

"Hey." He speaks lowly and calmly. The muffled sounds disappear right after he spoke, leaving only a tense quiet behind. "Do you need clothes?"

"I…" The small voice replies, it's a little hoarse from all the crying and a more than a little hesitant. There's a deep breath as if the person on the other side (a boy, Sasuke guesses because this is the boys changing room) is gathering resolve. He clears his throat before asking, "Who are you?"

Sasuke raises an eyebrow and doesn't say anything for a moment until he realizes that this person can't see his Uchiha Eyebrow™ and ignores the heat on his face. He instinctively touches the side of his neck (he's not embarrassed he forgot there was a door there, not at all).

"Uchiha Sasuke. Who are you?" He inquires confidently, though there's still a hint of red on his face.

"I… I need some… pants please." The word pants is said like Sasuke's great aunt says 'failure', like it's a fate worse than death.

Sasuke's not sure what the deal with pants is but it's not his business so if the person in there asks for pants then he'll give him pants.

"I have an extra pair." Sasuke suggests, already walking back towards his locker, "I'll lend them to you for today and you can give them back tomorrow."

"…Okay." The boy agrees quietly in the changing room.

Sasuke whispers under his breath his password to his locker and the door slides open. The locker has a ledge dividing the space in half and a single sliver hock is screwed into the side. Sasuke grabs the sports bag hanging there and collects his uniform and his spare robes. He zips the bag up and closes his locker.

With the extra white pants still in hand, Sasuke presses the changing room door open a crack, just enough to snake his hand through and hand his pants off to a stranger.

"I'll be going now," Sasuke informs the unknown person. "I eat lunch by the potted sakura trees, so you know where to find me."

The next day a boy with straight long chocolate brown hair pulled back into two ponytails resting at his neck greets him at the sakura trees. He holds out Sasuke's white pants like an offering.

Sasuke takes them without uncertainty.

The boy blinks at him with wide honey eyes and stares and Sasuke blinks right back, there's a tangible silence between them. Sasuke doesn't know what to say but he was raised better than this.

"Thank you." He decides is the best response and places the pants down beside him.

The boy takes a seat next to Sasuke and tenses like he waiting for something and Sasuke has no idea what the deal with this kid is.

"You're going to waste your lunch break if you don't start eating soon." Sasuke points out, eyeing the tray of food in the other boy's lap pointedly.

The other boy stares at Sasuke again with a wide eyed look that makes him a bit uncomfortable. He nods and starts eating his food. The last fifteen minutes of lunch pass exactly like that. It was obsivously awkward but also… nice at the same time. Sauke's never really eaten lunch with anyone before.

The bell rings ending lunch and starting the second half of the day.

Sasuke feeds his leftovers to a garage can by the entrance of the main hall. The garage can has been affectionately dubbed 'Akane' for a reason Sasuke doesn't even want to know. A name tag is slapped on the front of it, probably stuck on with a spell. The enchanted garbage grinds up the remains of Sasuke's lunch, shredding the food and plate alike before swallowing it.

The other boy follows suit and they make their way back to Sasuke's classroom. Once he realizes that the other boy wasn't so much as following him as he is heading in the same direction, Sasuke once overs the guy.

He stops walking and his eyebrows furrowing. "Come to think of it he does kind of look familiar…" Sasuke thinks mutely.

"Are you…?" Sasuke starts and pauses, the other boy goes a little pale and his hands shake.

"Am I…?" He replies though he sounds very nervous and his pale skin goes paler.

"…in my class?" Sasuke finishes and looks away, not meeting the boy's kind eyes. How rude was that? How could Sasuke not notice? He scowls at himself and fights down a blush and presses a hand against the side of his neck.

The boy doesn't say anything and Sasuke reluctantly looks back at him. He's expression is nothing sort of bewildered and Sasuke's at lost to why.

"…Yes." The boy says, still looking like he'd fallen asleep and woke up in a world full of ninjas. "I'm Haku." He introduces himself.

Sasuke takes note of the lack of a family name but doesn't comment.

"Hn." Sasuke nods and that was that.

Friendship with Haku was as easy and relaxing and as natural as magic. It was… pleasant for the lack of a better word. Haku was quiet but not too quiet and he liked to study as much as Sasuke did. Having someone who gets into the nitty-gritty of theory as much as practice of their lessons as much as Sasuke does is refreshing and exciting.

You also get to know a person when your friends with them. And Sasuke knows Haku values school as much as he does, maybe if possible, more.

It's almost ten minutes into the fourth period of class, lunch had ended a mere fifteen minutes ago, and the seat beside him is glaringly empty. Haku had left lunch just about three minutes before the bell ring excusing himself to the bathroom. But almost twenty minutes later, there's still not a sound of a scribbling quill, no soft breathing, no Haku. A swell of anxiousness balls up in his stomach.

Leaving anytime before the end of the day's classes is highly unlikely seeing as there's a hospital ward here. Unless, something horrible happened to Haku's family, which Sasuke doubts. He's not an idiot so he doesn't bring up 'family', it's become akin to a taboo topic between them. However, it doesn't change the fact that not once has Haku mentioned any family members and despite roll call, Sasuke still doesn't know Haku's family name.

Which, Sasuke ponders, means one of two things.

A) He's ashamed of them and they did something bad and public. Sasuke can't, for the life of him, remember anything scandalous happening to any important family in the last year (big enough that others would know) and, most importantly, his father didn't tell him to stay away from the boy.

Or: B) He doesn't have one… as in, an orphan.

An orphan with unknown origins. Which means that Haku could be a…

Sasuke narrows his eyes, his mind whirling and sharp, dark, eyes scan the room and catch the gleeful expressions on a group of five of his male classmates sitting at the back of the room and the prideful looks they were casting at the Haku-less seat.

Sasuke suddenly remembers in clarity the incident that started their friendship. He'd never found out what exactly led Haku to needing an extra pair of pants. Itachi's words from all those years ago are brought the front of his mind.

"Wizards and witches like father think that their blood isn't magical enough to be taught, that's it dirty."

Sasuke's hand whips up into the air in a flash and the speed startles the teacher, making him pause in the middle of his sentence.

"Yes…?" The teacher replies with a crinkled brow.

"…to degrade and hurt…"

"May I go to the bathroom?"

-Q-


	2. Mudblood Scum

**Mudblood Scum**

 **S** asuke's stomach is currently a well as deep and cold as the ocean, filling each second with waves of worry and anxiety as he rushes to the closest boy laboratory.

The corridors are oppressive obstacles that push him into panicking, relaying mostly on muscle memory and sense of direction, Sasuke makes it to the boys' bathroom in a record time.

He slams into the door in his haste, it works as good as a slap would've. Sasuke takes a step back and shakes his head. He makes himself take a deep breath. He wouldn't be any good to Haku in this over emotional state.

Again, he opens the door – properly this time. Sasuke brushes the side of his neck with his hand, oddly this incident is startling similar to the first time Sasuke met Haku. However, this time he wasn't about to let it go. This time he's determined to get to the bottom of it.

"Haku?" Sasuke calls out, dipping his head low, straining his eyes to check for feet at the bottom of the stall.

When there wasn't any reply except for the heavy silence that weighs down his chest like a fifteen-pound weight, Sasuke attempts something else.

"It's me, Sasuke." He tries to reassure, "I want to help you." That's what people usually say… right? A little voice in the back of his head spreads doubt. What would Sasuke be able to do if Haku was actually hurt?

"…Sasuke….?" Haku's soft voice whimpers from the very last stall.

Haku's small voice blasts his worry away and to the point of being frantic Sasuke races over and knocks against it.

"Haku?" Sasuke prompts firmly, "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I-I'm fine." Haku answered hesitantly and Sasuke didn't believe him for a second.

"Can you open the stall door?" Sasuke requests, taking a step back from the bathroom stall as he hears Haku step down from the lid of the toilet that he'd been standing on. Haku's shoes come into view and the shifting of the lock on the door echoes throughout the bathroom like an intimidating  
countdown.

The door swings open revealing Haku with hair covering his face ("Hiding it," Sasuke mentally concludes, and his eyes narrow in suspicion). However, what gained Sasuke's highest concern was the tears on the Haku's pants. As if someone was trying to rip them off.

"Who hurt you?" Sasuke's voice was even, but there was a growing, growling hurricane underneath that scares Haku to his very core.

When the other boy flinches back, Sasuke takes a step back giving him room.

"Haku," Sasuke says carefully, pulling at strings, and tilting his head. "Do you want to stay here for a while?"

Haku snuffles and there's wet tear tracks down his angry red checks. Haku hesitantly nods his head.

Taking his wand Sasuke casts a quick cleaning spell on the floor and gracefully sits crossed legged against the white bathroom wall. He takes his wand and turns to the door and casts a locking spell to keep unwanted visitors out.

Neither of them say anything, Haku dealing with his own mortification and Sasuke kicking himself for his over emotional reaction. He had said, hadn't he? Not to overreact? Obviously that didn't exactly work.

Slowly, Haku pulls his long tangled hair out of his face and ties it back with his green elastic. His other had snapped during the incident.

A large blue and purple bruise in an awkward oval shape stains the pale of Haku's right check like spilt pumpkin juice on a pristine table cloth. There's no hiding what had happened, it was stark and obvious. Obviously painful.

"Haku you don't deserve this." Sasuke states strongly. Anger was a lit, boiling in the very base of his stomach bringing rise to the passion that soars in his chest.

Haku's big brown, honey eyes find the floor. "I'm a mudblood scum who likes to wear girl's clothes. I'm," Haku's whole face contorts into a cringe, and the word comes out in a whisper, " _Unnatural._ I deserve it."

The first part, Sasuke had already speculated but the second was certainly a surprise.

"'Mudblood,'" Sasuke mocks the word with his tongue, "Is a word used to oppressive muggleborn because high and mighty purebloods think all of you are too 'impure' to teach. My brother is probably one of the most intelligent wizards to ever walk these halls and he believes that magic, no matter where it comes from is still magic."

Sasuke presses a hand to Haku's shoulder, "We're both wizards."

Haku smiles bitterly, "Smarter people than your brother have been wrong before Sasuke, don't be ignorant."

"My brother's never led me wrong." Sasuke defends, he presses hand harder into Haku's shoulder. "Believe in him?"

"What does your brother have to say about boys wearing girl clothing?" Haku prompts stubbornly.

Sasuke pauses. What would Itachi say? Probably something too wise for his age. "…That it doesn't matter the clothes you wear, you're still human." Sasuke's dark eyes make eye contact with Haku's and held it. "That you're human, you are not unnatural or deserving of hatred, you deserve respect. Like everyone else."

Haku's eyes water with fresh, salty tears. He silently nods because if he were to speak all he'd be able to do is sob.

"Let's skip." Sasuke declares and Haku nods in agreement. He certainly doesn't want to back to class looking like this.

Sasuke brings out his wand again and mumbles under his breath, his wand pointed right at Haku's bruised cheek. The spell was only a basic one, therefore his cheek was still left sore and slightly discoloured but it was a major improvement to what had been there before.

"Sasuke," Haku cheekily asks, "May I please borrow some more pants?"

Sasuke smirks and exists the bathroom and more composed than before, going to his locker once again to get Haku extra pants.

" _Really,"_ Sasuke muses, _"Pants are the key to friendship."_

Sasuke comes back with an extra pair of pants and a school rule book. The rulebook is thick and heavy and old with leather binding (it must have been over five thousand pages long). Had feather light charms not existed, the book would be near impossible to carry.

Wordlessly, Sasuke passes Haku his extra pants and while Haku's changing in the stall, Sasuke carefully flips through the old, worn pages preserved through multiple spells and runes.

He stops mindlessly turning the pages when he comes to the Student Handbook section. Quickly skimming the table of content located on the first page of chapter, Sasuke skips to the section about dress code.

"Well," Sasuke voices aloud, giving the book a weird look, "that's interesting."

"What's interesting?" Haku parrots from behind the thick bathroom stall (armed with locking spells and strength reinforcement runes).

"It doesn't specify what we have to wear under our cloaks." Sasuke traces the rule again with his forefinger.

"What?" Haku says surprised. There was zinging sound of a zipper being pulled up and the bathroom stall door unlocking.

Sasuke nods, but his eyebrows raised. He heaves up the book, holding it upright instead of leaning it on his lap and points towards the dress code section. "All it says is that students must wear their school charmed cloaks and then goes into the different hues. It says absolutely nothing about who can wear what under their cloaks."

"And the teachers practically swear by this book." Haku interjects, hope prominent in his tone. His cheeks gain warmth that had nothing to do with tears.

Sasuke nods in agreement, "Lawfully, you can wear whatever you want underneath." Sasuke adds, "But there is a section that goes into decency."

Swiftly Sasuke flips to that page and like a fine toothed comb, his eyes run over the words. "Anything above your knees isn't okay." He summarizes.

Haku beams and nods. "I think I can manage."

Not willing to ruin the good mood, Sasuke stomps down hard on his curiosity, burying it deep in his mind to ponder later. Haku had to deal with five insensitive assholes today, Sasuke's not going to put himself on the list.

The rest was the day was liberating for Haku, who got to sit in class and be over pouring with self-reassurance. Which lead to satisfyingly ticking off his usual tormentors to the maximum.

It's the happiest Sasuke's ever seen him.

For Sasuke, the rest of the day is spent ignoring the teachers' lectures. He's more intrigued with his own plotting. His eyes shift as if he were seeing his own imaginary world. When the teacher catches his eyes, he nods to show he's supposedly paying attention. Not once does his quill touch his page to make any notes.

When the teacher dismisses them, there was the hurried scrap of chairs against the floor, and rushed walking.

Sasuke makes eye contact with one of Haku's bully and uses his eyes like diggers and glares.

The boy goes a stark unhealthy white, his lips turn a light blue. He continues to shake minutes after Sasuke's turned and left. It isn't until one of his friends comes over in concern that he snaps out of it.

"Are you okay?" She asks and puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Fine." He says breathlessly and then like someone had just told him he had seven days to live he says, "For now."

-Q-

"Sasuke," Mikoto's face is contoured into the epitome of disappointment. Her arms are crossed over her chest and she sits tense on the plush leather cushion of the large couch in the living room. "Sit down."

Without question Sasuke obeys dropping his school bag near the door and sits on the sofa facing opposite to the couch his mother is on.

Gracefully she picks up the one-of-a-kind, thousand-year-old, priceless, teapot and pours Sasuke a cup. The whole set is black with swirls and loops of gold and silvers and coral.

His mother silky black hair, so much like his own, falls perfectly to the side as she moves her arms. It's easier to focus on the irrelevant factor of his mother's hair than it is to the situation at large.

The awkwardness of it causes Sasuke to want to squirm, but he knows better than that. If he fidgets now all he'll receive is a scolding.

Once Mikoto was done pouring his cup, she set the teapot back down on the coffee table on top of the platter rested on the white table cloth. She picks up her own teacup, taking a small sip before moving it away from her face to rest in the small black saucer in her hand.

"I got a notice from the school today." She states full of authority. "Apparently, my youngest son was absent from his fourth period class..." Mikoto's tone sharpens enough to hone a knife and Sasuke winces.

"Which is funny," She continues staring Sasuke down, "because I don't remember picking you up or rearranging for anyone else to do so."

She takes another sip of her tea, the drink hot on her tongue. Mikoto raises an eyebrow, "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

There was silence and Sasuke's mind blanked, what could do? What could he say that'd get him out of his mess?

At her son's silence she sighs. "The truth of the matter is, Sasuke, had your father seen the letter…" She trials off and she didn't need to finish either, Sasuke got the picture and full on flinches this time.

Seeing her son's reaction, her eyes soften.

"Why did you skip?" Mikoto asks directly this time.

"…. A friend." Sasuke mutters. When his mother made no indication she heard him and was clearly still awaiting an answer he spoke up, "I was helping a friend."

"A friend?" She blinks, the disdain previously present wiped clean. "I haven't heard about this 'friend' before."

"…He's not someone father would approve of." Sasuke hesitantly answered, shifting his eyes to the side.

"Ah," Mikoto's hums, her features became guarded and she nods pointedly to his cooled teacup. "It's not going to bite you." She teases, a slight curve to her lip.

Sasuke takes the teacup and holds it up to his mouth, he takes a gulp of it. The smooth delicious tea slides presently down his throat. It was a traditional Uchiha brew.

"Are you going to tell father?" Sasuke inquires, dabbing his lip with a napkin layout out on the table.

Mikoto looks at her youngest son, considering.

"No." She decides, placing both her teacup and her saucer down.

"No?" Sasuke repeats, instantly relieved.

"Not this time," She corrects herself. "However, if you skip class again for _any_ reason again I'll make sure it's sent straight to him." Mikoto promises sternly.

Tenderly, Sasuke nods.

Mikoto leans back onto the couch and calls out, "Milly!"

"Yes, mistress?" The elf asks, bowing.

Mikoto motions to her fingers to the mess on the coffee table. "Clean this up and ready my dress; the dark blue one? I have dinner meeting with Lady Nara this evening."

Wordlessly the elf started on her task, collecting wayward cups and dirty napkins.

The dismissal was clear and silently, Sasuke made his exist. Picking up his bag on the way out and making sure he had everything before heading straight to his room.

As soon as he reaches his room, Sasuke throws himself on his bed and buries his head in the pillows, his bag's pushed off the bed and falls to the ground with a hard thump.

"Oh child," The mirror sighs, "You look like a right mess."

Sasuke lifts his head up just enough to turn and glare at the mirror. "At least I'm not having an ethnicity crisis."

-Q-

Throughout the rest of the month strange, odd events would occur to the boys who hurt Haku and, in doing so, enraged Sasuke.

First, _someone_ jinxed their pants, so every time their name was spoken their pants disappeared. Leaving the boys humiliated and their ergo bruised every time. The jinx lasted half of the day, until finally, a teacher figured out what jinx it was and casted the counter.

Haku gives Sasuke a look and Sasuke innocently looks back.

"What?" Sasuke asks, like the angel of justice he is.

Haku shakes his head, a small smile on his face, "You're horrible."

"I'm honorable." Sasuke corrects smugly.

The second charm was a nasty shoelace tying spell. The spell was supposed to be helpful, but someone charmed one lace of the boys' right shoe and the one shoelace on their left shoes to tie them together.

This "someone" casted an advanced locking charm on top of that, one that would only release the spell if the right words were spoken.

All five of them walked around tripping and stumbling for two days (there was numerous scraps of knees, bangs of elbows and running into walls) until one of the boys of weaker will finally broke down, yelling, "OKAY KARMA I GET IT! I'M A HORRIBLE, TERRIBLE, MONSTROUS PERSON!"

And the shoelaces untied.

Sasuke was infinitely pleased.

Sneaked whispers and notes passed during class, and rumors in the hallway all about this 'Karma' entity. Is it real? Is it fake? Who IS Karma? Is it a person, or higher power? Are those boys cursed?

And the once popular band of boys were now out casted and almost ignored.

Curses were nasty things, of course and sometimes bad luck was contagious.

Knowing that this Karma, whatever it was, was irate most likely because of the bad, horrible pranks and cruel words the boys would spew (the actions that made them popular) put everyone into a reflective mode.

The girls who fought petty fights and used their tongues like sharpened knives to cut away at one another, said apologies and created stronger friendships.

The boys who made weird, degrading jokes about women and muggleborns were silenced by their classmates who refuse to fake a smile or laugh anymore.

More concerned about their own words, their own actions, checking if they were being good people themselves, no one bothered to comment when a boy wore a skirt to school, because that wasn't their business.

The last day of school dawned and at this point Haku had worn a skirt to school eight days in a row.

The smiles Haku give slowly turned from shaky to confident and Sasuke found himself amazed at how much confident was given to a person when they could dress the way they wanted.

It was also the first time a teacher had commented on it. The others simply accepted it or ignored it, the skirt obliviously wasn't causing any student uproar, wasn't disturbing class and wasn't causing any problems.

Unfortunately, or rather fortunately in this case, the teachers apparently stuck to a "I'm-not-getting-involved-unless-I-have-to," mentality. Hence the bullying, but also, the reason Haku hadn't been asked to stay behind after class when the teachers finally noticed his clothing choice.

Surprisingly the first teacher who asked Haku to change was Momo Taki, the flying instructor.

She's probably the shortest adult Sasuke's ever met, standing at about four feet and nine inches tall with triple pierced ears and her hair is dyed fourteen different colours. She's also probably the most eccentric person Sasuke's ever meet.

Flying was the last class of the day and according to most, the best.

"Haku," She address, after everyone but Sasuke had scrambled off to get a school broom and equipment.

Today they'd be doing a mock game of quidditch (because they're eight and relatively new at the sport, they'd only be using half the height of the field and half the width of it).

"Could you please change into some pants?" She asks, to her credit her words are polite and firm.

Sasuke felt his hackles rise and Haku's smile deemed.

Prompted by her students' reactions she explains, "Skirts aren't appropriate sportswear for quidditch. The girls have to change too," She jerks her finger to the changing rooms behind her.

"Do you have some pants to change into?" She asks from her spot on the top of the quidditch ball box which kept squirming.

Haku spares a look to Sasuke, who smirks back and nods.

"I have an extra, extra pair." Sasuke says.

And the flying instructor raises her perfectly waxed eyebrow, but doesn't comment.

The last day of school is, like all things, only exciting when it's happening. The moment Sasuke arrives home, all he feels is drained and tired and all he wants to do is fall into bed.

Which is exactly just what he does.

Mindlessly Sasuke sleeps from the time he comes home to the time Milly gentle pokes at his shoulder, encouraging him to wake up.

"Master Sasuke, it's time for dinner." She notifies him, when she notices Sasuke's finally awake enough to comprehend anything she says. Her tone is strangely tender, losing the normal firmness it usually holds.

She's looking at him away he's never seen before and can't decipher.

Warily, he nods and Milly snaps her long, thin, fingers and teleports away. He quickly brushes up his appearance, combing his hair through his fingers and straightens his casual robes.

Without forethought Sasuke imminently heads down for dinner, tucking Milly's reaction away for pondering later. Walking through his home, his brain switches to autopilot, leading him through the familiar twists and turns. The portraits of dead ancestors don't disturb him, most are sleeping and the few who do turn to look, gaze with silent curiosity and then turn away.

Uchihas are very tight lipped people, especially Sasuke's ancestors.

Well, in general.

(Uncle Obito and Grandma Chiko are the main exceptions.)

Sasuke walks through the entrance to the dining room and freezes in his place at the doorway.

There standing in the dining room, is Itachi.

And suddenly, the family dinner and Milly's reaction all add up.

Itachi who's wearing a fully black robe, not a speck, nor tint, nor edge, nor evidence of there once being gold.

Itachi, who with his fully pitch black robe, just technically graduated Mahoutokoro.

The conflict is immediate, and Sasuke can't remember how he forgot this was going to happen.

He'd been told the speculations hadn't he? Sasuke's been told his brother is genius. He's been told this was a possibility, a _likely_ possibility.

Yet, being told something is much more passive than being slapped in the face with it.

Sasuke knew, but that doesn't stop his knee-jerk reaction.

Which, wasn't really a reaction at all.

He didn't know how to act.

Itachi stood… radiant and beaming and actually happy. Proud in his pitch black robe, his shoulders just properly filling out the robes. Sasuke's father was smiling, laughing. It was an odd and deep sound that resonated through Sasuke's chest cavity and bring warmth there, a warmth he couldn't remember being there before. Sasuke's mother stood proud and smiling as well.

When Mikoto eyes shifted over to Sasuke and called him over, he felt like hiding.

Left with no choice, Sasuke takes his seat and does everything in his power to not meet his brother's or father's eyes.

Conflict rolls in his stomach like a tidal wave and everything he eats is tasteless. He forces it down his throat. Even the tomato tastes lifeless.

Dinner passes like it's a time-loop; never ending. All the words spoken are the same ones Sasuke been hearing since he could comprehend Japanese.

It's nothing new, but it feels realer now.

His bitterness is fighting with his brand of older brother hero warship that was braided into his D.N.A at, what feels like, birth.

Jealousy and pettiness are gross emotions to experience, the guilt, however is the driving factor. Sasuke knows these emotions are wrong, hence the guilt but he also doesn't know how to stop feeling them.

As soon as dinner is done, Sasuke escapes to his room, avoiding contact with any of his family members, he holes away like a frightened spider under his bed sheets and wishes his emotions away.

"Oh dear." The mirror sighs like a worried but exasperated mother. "What's troubling you now?"

Finding himself slightly emotional exhausted, Sasuke's response is to curl closer into himself and not reply.

The mirror huffs, "It'll help if you talk about it."

From under his covers Sasuke rolls his eyes and continues to ignore his troublesome mirror, although he tucks away the advice.

"Fine." The mirror sniffs tolerantly. "Be like that."

-Q-

Sasuke sits down in the grand study, the chair is plush and comfortable beneath him (charmed to be never-endingly comfortable). The desk is claw-footed, a dark wispy brown, well-polished and cared for. With his quill and black ink well, a thick piece of lineless paper lay on the desk, front and center a stark contrast to the dark wood.

He starts by writing "Dear Haku," and then stops, the thin of the quill held between the tips of his well-practiced ink-free fingers.

Sasuke bites his lip in thought and taps the end of the quill against the desk in a puzzled fashion.

Nothing had ever been quite as hard to word before.

Sasuke takes a deep breath, it was a large sound in the near lifeless room. He squeezes his eyes shut, opens them gently and starts to write.

The letter ends up to be something of a coded message more than it was an emotional confession. The key being the inferences made in between the lines. It's only a paragraph long, not even taking up half a page.

Sasuke rereads the letter, his dark eyes quickly skipping from word to word making sure there's no spelling mistakes and everything makes sense. He folds the letter perfectly in half, the ends lining up exactly and slips the letter into a thick paged envelope.

Sasuke seals the envelope with a muttered word and a flick of his wrist. He elegantly writes Haku's name on the smooth back.

Sasuke passes his father on his way to the kitchen. His hair is neatly combed, as always, and he's in his crisp, military police uniform, as always.

Sasuke respectfully nods at his father as he passes but jerks to a sudden stop when his father strict, even toned voice calls out his name.

"Yes, father?" Sasuke inquires, standing every still and straight.

His father motions with his hand for Sasuke follow. They walk side to side from the studies in the direction of the backyard. Sasuke's footsteps are muted, overlapped by his father's that echo down the hall sharply.

"Sauske," His father seriously addresses, his lips set in a firm line. Sasuke tilts his head up at his father curiously. "It's about time you earned the title Uchiha."

Sasuke throws his father a confused glance but doesn't catch his father's eye.

The backyard is expansive, and open. Unmarked land stretches as far as Sasuke's eye can see, the thin, tall, grass of fields dance in the wind in the far distance. A rock garden snakes around the house and extends into the yard like a creeping shadow and creatively placed trees lead to an appealing appearing yard.

Before Sasuke a body of water too small to be called a lake or a river however too big to be considered a pond spades. The water simmers in reflection of the high sun. The water was calm, not a wave in sight. A small dock stretches into the water, the wood well kept and appearing as if it was newly built although Sasuke knew better.

"Sasuke watch closely." His father commands, holding up his fingers. Interested, Sasuke studies his father's hand watching intently. His father moves his index finger and his thumb against each other in a fast motion, sliding them together to create friction, and in result a spark blooms into fire, resembling one of candle flame, springs into life on the top of his father's index finger.

Sasuke's eyes widen in wonder as he observes the flame dance and twist. It's flickers in the slight breeze and with the narrowing of his father's eyes, extinguishes.

"The Uchiha are blessed with the ability to command fire as one wills." His father tells him and before Sasuke can ask how this different from summoning fire using a wand, his father walks out on the dock.

His father takes a large inhale of breath and blows, out of his father mouth a flare of fire bursts, the volume of it is gigantic, the fire shoots from where they spewed from to almost the other side of the water span.

Sasuke's eyes are impossibly wide, he caught himself before his mouth could drop open.

The fire continued for the duration of his father breath before spattering to a stop.

With his shoulders set back, Sasuke's father turn to look at him. There's certain pleasant tilt to his lips as he wordlessly hands Sasuke a moderately sized scroll.

"It's tradition for each child of the Uchiha to learn to preform this technique before they can be considered an adult. Before they can walk as their own person and before they can truly bare the weight of our clan crest."

Sasuke nods, head held high and takes the scroll from his father.

"Learn from the scroll. Once you've completed your task, come find me." After his final words, his father turns and returns to whatever he'd been doing before and Sasuke turns his attention the scroll in his hands.

He stares at it, rolling it around in his hand. The scroll is steady in his hand and Sasuke can almost trick himself into thinking the metaphorical weight of this task is just as light.

After he got over being stunned, Sasuke eagerly opened to the scroll, unrolling it. To his surprise, inside wasn't only instructions but diagrams of what could only be described as hand signs. Glancing over the scroll, Sasuke quickly, but carefully rolls up the scroll and heads inside, back to the study.

He has some work to do.

Sitting back down in the chair he was just early occupying, he unrolls the scroll once again. Painstakingly he forces his fingers into each form as shown on the scroll. He sits unmoving from his spot until he can't peel his eyes back open, running through the hand signs continuously.

 _Serpent, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger._

He repeatedly forms them like a religion.

-Q-

Fugaku walks down the same hallway as he had earlier today. The hallway is dark, dead with no light. He doesn't bother turning them on himself. There's a slump in his shoulders, and just this once when the lights are off and there's no one to see him, Fugaku lets himself feel every inch of the weight and stress of his responsibility rain down on him.

He pauses when he passes the office door, a creak of light pears into the hallway, splitting the darkness into two wholes.

Curious, Fugaku soundlessly approaches and opens the door. The open door reveals the study and his youngest son slumped over, sleeping on the desk.

Fugaku fondly watches from the archway of the door. His hand tilts slightly, and his hand creeps up and touches the Uchiha Police symbol on his chest. A worried frown pulls over his lips and his stomach sinks. He tiredly sighs, his shoulders dropping even lower.

He gentle closes the door, leaving Sasuke to peaceful slumber, and makes his way to his own room.

With steel eyes he pulls off his bloodied gloves and his caging uniform and attempts not to think about the disturbing news that brought to his attention today. However, he finds his can't quite quell his anxiousness when the thought of Sasuke constantly springs to his mind and find himself doing the opposite and worrying more.

Once he was out of his uniform and into his comfortable nightclothes, he turns around to head back to Sasuke.

"Fugaku?" Mikoto calls sluggishly from their bed.

He leans over and presses a sweat kiss to her cheek in conformation. "I'm just going to put Sasuke in bed." He softly informs.

She blinks, trying to fully bring herself to be awake. "He's not in bed yet?" She asks in concern.

"He fell asleep in the study." Fugaku says quietly. He finds her wrist in the darkness, her wrist in which his name is spread across, and squeezes tightly. She hums fondly in response and lays back down as he leaves the room.

Fugaku returns to the study and tenderly pries Sasuke from the desk and carries him like one would a toddler. With an arm under him and another wrapped around his middle.

He catches the sight of the scroll and nods to himself in approval. The faster Sasuke learns the safer he'll be in the upcoming years.

Fugaku has not only the fatherly sense, but the sixth sense he's developed as a Captain and Commander, to know that the follow years will be hard.

He makes sure to turn off the lights of the office and close the door before heading to Sasuke's room.

The door to his son room smoothly opens and Fugaku enters without hesitation.

He pulls the covers of Sasuke's bed back and lays Sasuke down, his head propped up on the fluffy, but firm pillow. Fugaku tucks his son in, and in a moment of heartwarming weakness, he leans down and presses his dry, cracked, stern lips to his son's forehead.

With one last, gentle look, Fugaku leaves Sasuke's to his dreams and returns to his own bed.

-Q-

The next morning, Sasuke's family gathers for a grand breakfast as usual. During this time, their family owl drops by, delivering the news, their letters and other sorts of notices. Before she can fly away, Sasuke tempts the owl with a strip of bacon (it was rare, but today their mother had indulged them with a western styled breakfast).

She chirps and bobs her head forward, her beak snapping onto the end of the bacon, and Sasuke lets go of his end and she gabbles it up.

He hands her the letter, and she's quickly takes hold of it and flies off, flittering her wings as she goes.

Itachi raises his eyebrow in question.

"My friend." Is all Sasuke says in reply. He shovels in the last of his breakfast and excuses himself before Itachi can question it and heads back to the study.

Determined to master the hand work today, Sasuke goes into the study sits down and stretches his hand. His knuckles crack and he winces, rolls his head and starts.

He doesn't stop until his hand ache, and he can do each sigh without looking at the scroll for confirmation and they come to mind naturally.

The sun is high in the sky. _"Noon."_ Sasuke thinks, and looks to a clock for confirmation.

Now that he has the hand sighs down, he'll have to start the hard part – actually molding his magic.

Sasuke patters out of the study and heads to the kitchen, he grabs an apple and scarfs it down. Throwing the core away, he takes a deep breath, his mind feels stretched, as if someone had hold one end and pulled at the other. It's a weird but satisfying feeling. Sasuke identifies it as one he gets after a long but successful studying session.

The sun peaks through the kitchen windows, shining brightly and high up enough that Sasuke as to make sure not to step into a plane of light, lest he be blinded by the brilliance of the sun.

He makes his way to the courtyard for some fresh air. He slides the door open and surprisingly is met with the back of his older brother. Instead of turning away and leaving, like Sasuke had been doing for the past little bit. He sidesteps Itachi's back and sits down beside his older brother and tries to see what he's seeing.

The courtyard holds beautiful appeal, the rock garden and trees are positions just so and the space is empty enough not be clustered but has enough wildlife in it so it's not blank space. There's no thrilling body of water, Sasuke likes it less than the backyard.

"Sasuke." Itachi turns to look at him, his dark eye so much like Sasuke's own. Sasuke knows because of the soften look Itachi just gave to him he was going to say something Sasuke didn't want to hear right now.

"Itachi," Sasuke cuts off before Itachi could open his mouth and asks instead, "Why would a boy want to wear girl clothes?"

It had been bothering him. Sasuke didn't think someone shouldn't be able to wear what must made them happy, but he couldn't understand the notion as much as he wanted too.

His brother isn't the most expressive person in the world, it's usually the opposite really, he's more likely to be most non-expressive person in the world. But it's clear to anyone the question throws him for a loop.

There's the split second of surprise before Itachi sobers himself and a gleam of understanding undertakes his features.

"Well," Itachi replies, "Why do you like to wear boy clothes?"

"Because I like too." Sasuke blurts out automatically before thinking.

Itachi smiles kindly at him, and nods his head in a 'there-you-have-it' motion.

" _Oh,"_ Sasuke thinks. _"It's really that simple, isn't it_?"

"Sasuke," Itachi starts before Sasuke could leave or think of something else to bring up to surprise Itachi (not that much does). "It's okay if you hate me."

A flash of sudden panic overcomes Sasuke, of anything, this is the last thing Sasuke wants to talk to Itachi about.

Sasuke mouth drops open and he quickly spews out, "I don't!"

Itachi turns his head to look at him. The silence question in the air.

Sasuke's cheeks flush red, and he shakes his head and says more confidently, "I don't hate you."

"I wouldn't blame you," Itachi comforts, almost like he's ignoring what Sasuke had just said, "father constantly praises me. He always compares you to me."

Sasuke nods his head accepting his brother's words. However, he doesn't know what to say, doesn't know how to say it. So he stays quiet.

Surprisingly, the silence wasn't awkward but instead of the simple comforting kind.

-Q-

Sasuke takes a deep breath, swiftly but accurately forms his hand signs.

 _Serpent, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger._

His lungs are filled to the maximum with air, he almost feels like he's going to burst. He fuels magic in his chest and thinks, _"Flame."_ And breathes out. Out of his mouth flows the continuous roar of fire, licking the sky around it and lighting up the top of the water.

Sasuke runs out of breath and the flames flicker to a stop.

There's an exhilarating zinging in his chest.

It's the feeling of victory.

When Sasuke performs for his father, he's gets a nod of approval and the slight smile in his lip.

Sasuke's never been prouder of himself.

-Q-

His birthday passes like it does every year. With every relative they could round up and close family friends (close, political friends and allies). There's a party, just like every year before where Sasuke spends most of his time playing with the cousins he never gets to see, receiving praise from relatives who hardly know him and introducing himself to the newest baby born (there's always another baby being born, sometimes multiple new Uchihas will be birthed into the world in one year).

There's dancing and music and, of course, food. There's so much food, Sasuke's not really such for all the house elves are magically, how they even pulled it off.

The present part is the worst and the best part of it all. It's the best because Sasuke does get some useful things and right after he's actually allowed to leave and let the adults do their thing and many families with young children also leave. It's the worst because of the awkward fake smiles and focused thankyous.

Finally, after he's unwrapped every gift, Sasuke makes his way up to his room and slips in blissfully. He's almost asleep when the familiar chirping of his family owl wakes him.

Sasuke grumbles and manoeuvres out of bed over to the owl. He pets his black back tenderly and wishes he had something to give to her, but at the moment, despite all the food Sasuke currently has none with him.

The owl sassily snaps her beak at him and drops the letter on the floor before flying away.

Sasuke makes an offended noise in the back of his throat and says viciously, "I've been more of a cat person." As if the owl could still hear him.

Picking up the letter from the floor, Sasuke's heart jumps in his chest when he sees his name scribbled on the back with familiar hand writing.

Sasuke moves to sit back on his bed and is reminded he, for whatever reason, didn't change out of his dressy robes. Rubbing his eyes tiredly, Sasuke sluggishly peels off his nicer robes and throws on his favourite pajamas.

He climbs back into his bed, and tears the envelope open. He picks out the letter and unfolds it.

The letter starts out wishing him a happy birthday and apology for not getting him anything. Haku goes on to tell him a bit of what his summer been like and Sasuke skims a lot of it. He finally reaches the part he's most interested in, the part where Haku replies to his own letter.

Reading the response levels his mind and Sasuke leaves the letter on his nightstand, ready to be replied to in the morning when his brain maybe would actually function. Right now everything is sluggish and wonky.

Struggling into the bed the same words are repeated like a mantra in head.

" _Your brother's achievements don't define what you can and cannot do."_

-Q-

His mother's about to call for a house elf when Itachi steps in.

"There's no need," Itachi assures her, putting down the cup of tea he was just drinking out of. "I'll wake Sasuke myself."

Fugaku nods at him and Mikoto looks like she wants to protest despite this but stays silent as Itachi is already across the room.

He walks the halls, confidence leaking form his steps and even if there's a frown to his lip. It really isn't like Sasuke to be late for breakfast. Wouldn't have Milly woken him up?

Itachi knocks on the door. "Sasuke," he says firmly, "It's time for breakfast."

There's no answer, so Itachi opens the unlock door and steps inside. As he thought, Sasuke's passed out on his bed, dead asleep.

Itachi almost feels bad about waking him but does so anyways. He sits down by the end of the bed and nudges Sasuke's leg hard enough to jerk him awake but not hard enough to hurt.

Sasuke kicks his feet against Itachi's thighs and moves away to the other side of the bed. Itachi smiles amused and tries to wake Sasuke up by shaking his shoulders.

Sasuke grumbles and swats his hands at Itachi.

"That's a rude way to talk to your brother." Itachi idly comments and Sasuke's eyes snap open. His cheeks instantly bloom red and Sasuke flicks his eyes up, making sure not to look at Itachi.

"It's time for breakfast." Itachi says, instead of commenting on his brother's lateness.

Sasuke nods and shuffles out of his bed, leaving the sheets twisted and the pillows thrown around.

"I'll wait outside." Itachi says nonchalantly, pulling the door closed behind him.

Sasuke swiftly pulls on his clothes and changes out of his pajamas. He hastily swipes a hand through his hair hoping that would tame it somewhat and heads out to the hallway.

"Ready now?" Itachi teases good heartedly.

Sasuke shrugs in response and Itachi frowns, "Sasuke – "

"Congratulations." Sasuke blurts, cutting off Itachi, "On graduating." Sasuke clarifies, "I hadn't said so before."

"I mean…" Sasuke continues nervously, touching the side of his neck, his eyes shifted downwards.

Itachi blinks and chuckles and pokes Sasuke's forehead with a firm finger.

Sasuke jerks his head up and instinctively rubs his hand on his forehead.

"Thank you." Itachi responses genuinely. He starts towards the dining room.

Sasuke's still standing there rubbing his forehead with a warm feeling blooming in his chest.

"Sasuke? Are you coming?" Itachi calls from down the hall, jarring Sasuke in to motion.

"Coming!" He calls back and speeds down the hall.

-Q-

Summer passes like a blink of an eye. Before he knows it, school's right around the corner and then it's the day of.

"I've decided I'm going to continue to study at Mahoutokoro." Itachi announces the night before. "The teachers have agreed to allow me."

"But why?" Sasuke can remember himself asking.

"Because there's never a limit to what you can learn." Itachi informs him, his eyes glazes like his looking at something else entirely.

His father nods in agreement. "Your brother's right Sasuke. Knowledge is power, but it'd do you both good to remember that a sword is only as good as it's handler."

The day of, Sasuke accepts the kiss from his mother, before turning and following his brother.

Mahoutokoro looks as good as Sasuke left it, just as grand and mystical. Just as exciting and welcoming as is it was before.

Sasuke meets up with Haku and they walk to class together like nothing had changed, like time hadn't passed and the clock hadn't ticked.

After the first half of an hour sitting down at a confining desk listening to their new homeroom teacher go on and on about the curriculum and how much fun this year is going to be, most of the class, including Sasuke were already bored with it – most wondering already "how many days until summer?"

Then something exciting did happen. The homeroom teacher passed out their timetables for the year, nothing about that was unusually, but the one of classes they had was.

A girl with her hair tied back into a high ponytail raises her hand high.

"Yes?" The homeroom points at the girl, not yet knowing her students' names off of top of her head.

"What's 'Wizarding Culture?'" The student asks, skipping straight to the point.

Sasuke turns his head to Haku with an eyebrow raised and Haku shrugs as if to say he was no idea either.

"Oh well," The teacher, honest to god, blushes, "It's probably the most exciting class you'll have this year." She gushes, smiling wide. "It's where you'll discuss in depth about wizarding traditions, rituals and other customs…" The teacher cups her hand around her mouth and mock whispers, "Like soulmate marks."

The class was sent into a fury of whispers and gossiping.

" _Soulmates_?" Sasuke considers, touching the side of his neck gently. It wasn't really ever a thing he thought about. The topic being the furthers thing from his mind, soulmate marks were private after all. It's seems so surreal that somewhere, somehow, another person has Sasuke's name stretched crossed their skin.

Haku sinks back in his seat, a glum expression crosses his face before he chases it away with a guarded, blank look.

The action catches Sasuke's attention and just as he was about to ask about it the teacher, who was looking rather pleased with herself hulled the students attention back to her.

"Okay, settle down!" She calls firmly, "Quiet down! We still have some material to get through I'm sure Mr. Kurmoki won't mind your questions but for now…" She concludes as she starts on a new topic.

Mr. Kurmoki, would actually, mind their questions as he states first and foremost. As soon as their all seated actually.

"I don't want any silly, love sick questions. Nothing about how to tell if someone is your intended without seeing their mark, this classroom is not a place for shoujo romances to bloom either." He says very strictly, "This classroom and the knowledge you will gain from it are the result of many, many years of research, of formable witches and wizards dedicating their lives to study and therefore whatever goes on in this classroom with be with the utmost respect." He finishes, intimidatingly staring into each and everyone of the students.

"That being said," Mr. Kurmoki relents, his tone becoming more gentle. "I was told by my colleague that she might of… hyped you up for my class. Normally I wouldn't even consider talking about soulmates until at least half way through the year, but," He says sharply pacing the front of the room, his arms linked confidently behind his back. "Since it is the first day and I don't really have a teacher plan, I figured there'd be no harm teaching the basics." He sighs under his breath and adds, "It might make for a good introduction."

"So," He concludes his speech, turning to face his student and gestures with a hand in the air, "Who can tell me a little about soulmate marks?"

A couple students hesitantly raise their hands. Mr. Kurmoki points to a nervous looking boy at the back.

"You, with the glasses." He holds his wand to the blackboard ready to write.

"Soulmate marks are always names." The boy mummers out quietly, the class was paying rapid attention and the room was silence enough to hear a wand drop so Mr. Kurmoki heard the boy fine.

He nods his head and mumbles a good under his breath, writing it down as the first point.

"And that's tricky part," He mentions, "Multiple people share the same first name and the same last name, so theoretically you could meet someone who has the same name as your soulmate but isn't."

"How do you tell, then?" A boy spoke up from the front.

"Soulmate marks are always a pair. For example, person A will have person B's name written on them and person B will have person A's written on them. If you have more than one soulmate, which is possible, although very, very rare but it will still follow the same pattern." He writes that point on the blackboard too, with a few flicks of his wand. His eyes sharpen and shift back to the boy who commented. "If you have sometime to say please raise your hand, furthermore speaking out of term will not be tolerated."

The boy gulps and nods in acceptance.

He points to another hand.

"The place your soulmate mark is placed will as match and each place has a different meaning." She informs, sliding his hand down to rest at her side.

He gives a nod and says, "Very good," while writing it down.

"If your soulmate mark is on the ankle of your feet then your intended's mark is in the same place. Each place on your body has meaning and can describe the nature of a soulmate pairs relationship. For example," He points to the inside of his wrist. "If a soulmate mark is on any major vein, then it could imply that your soulmate relationship is very romantically strong and even co-dependent on each other. It also implies that that soulmate pair may argue all that time because each of them has strong opinions about each other."

Mr. Kurmoki points to another raised hand with a nod.

"If the place on body determines how closely romantic the soulmate pair is, what if it's a very… um…" The student struggles to explain, "Not romantic place? Like a place that's not regarded as important?"

"Well," Mr. Kurmoki leans back, "Despite what you've been told, its not unusually for a soulmate pair to not be in a romantic relationship with each other, usually this is because these type of soulmate pairs are in fact both aromatic. Which means neither experience an emotional need to be in a romantic relationship with each other."

"Best friends forever." A girl muttered in the back a little too louder and the teacher sent her a sharp look but nodded in agreement anyway.

"Anything else?" He asks and a hand raised. He nods to the boy, giving him permission to talk.

"Not all witches and wizards have soulmate marks." He says, and Haku sucks in a sharp breath.

Sasuke sends him a concerned look but Hake doesn't meet his eyes.

Mr. Kurmoki pauses, as if he's unsure of how to deal with this topic. "Muggles," He starts, "Don't have soulmate marks. Soulmate marks are purely a magical race occurrence. In result, for a reason still unproven and undiscovered, muggleborns, despite developing magical cores do not develop soulmate marks. Any offspring of a muggleborn always does, even if that offspring is born or sired by a muggle, if they develop a magically core will have a soulmate mark."

Mr. Kurmoki writes the fact on the board, "I assume you all know where the origin of the slur mudblood comes from? This is why many muggleborns were called 'unfortunates', it thought of as they were unlucky because they, despite being wizards and witches didn't have the guide to their intended other."

 **-Q-**

Special thanks to **: jessicamathews65, Fuyonako Yuu, and Lauren . Loveless 5** for reviewing! When I was stuck and couldn't for the life of me write, I reread your lovely comments to help me get out of my slump. Thank you three a bunch, I really appreciated it. **Thank you to anyone to followed and/or favourited** too, it made my day 3

 _ **Remember to favourite/follow/review!**_

 **Also** **: Did you like this chapter length? Did you feel like it dragged on? I usually try for 5,000/chapter. But since I took a long time to update I thought 3,000 words extra words wouldn't hurt. Drop your thoughts in a review?**


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